The Football Brainiacs

University of Oklahoma Edition

– Oklahoma put out a couple 2016 offers yesterday. The first was to Hope, Arkansas native and DLineman, McTelvin Agim. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with Agim yet, but I asked around and the word is he actually grew up rooting for the Sooners. This offer is especially timely because we (The Football Brainiacs) have been talking about how untapped the Arkansas high school market is.

– To follow up on the above point, one of the problems in states like Oklahoma and Arkansas is that a lot of talent doesn’t necessarily come to light. Mainly because the states aren’t big enough to become a focal point in recruiting for many out-of-state schools schools. Add to that the fact that there is always an assumption that OU or OSU are going to find the talent and get a commitment from the in-state talent, it makes things even harder for kids in states like Arkansas and Oklahoma to be discovered. Even some of the higher profile kids don’t get a ton of national attention, unless there is someone at the school or a parent or a recruiting assistant actively helping. Consider the fact that Will Sunderland currently only has four offers, two from the in-state schools and the other two from border states (KSU and Arkansas).

– To continue the point, last week a very talented Oklahoma HS player named Austin Cantrell committed to Arkansas. He is a 2015 DE/TE out of Roland, Ok. Cantrell is an example of a small town Oklahoma kid who, fortunately, was noticed by a big regional school, but could play at a lot of schools and should have more offers. Had he not been noticed by Arkansas, it’s very likely he would have gone through the recruiting process without any BCS level offers. We’ve seen it time and time again.

– The second 2016 offer that went out yesterday was to LB Caleb Kelly. He attends Clovis West HS in California and is yet another Fresno kid who the Sooners have established an early connection with. We actually started watching film on Kelly last week because of his performance at the Rivals camp, and he has that rare combination of size, strength, and the ability to turn and run. In fact, OU was his first offer but it will NOT be his last.

But here is where it gets interesting. Kelly might be a big Oklahoma lean throughout the process. The word is that Kelly comes very highly recommended by coach Tony Perry, which is a name OU fans who follow recruiting should be familiar with. Perry coached guys like Hatari Byrd, LJ Moore, Miciah Quick, etc. and has strong ties to the OU program. Perry also coached current Sooners grad assistant, Chip Viney. Coach Mike made the offer, and I was told Oklahoma is going to be hard to beat for Kelly. The question will be whether Coach Kish can close the deal. So far we haven’t been able to win the commitment of a highly coveted LB, and Kelly will be highly coveted, but the advantages are definitely there for OU.

– Having returned from spring break, Oklahoma will be back at practice this afternoon.

Now, naturally the inclination may be to assume this is somehow related to the recent visits Gibson has been (and is still) taking thus favoring one of this schools — which obviously includes Oklahoma. That could be true, but it could also just as easily be that Gibson would rather the recruiting process end early. Which would allow him to start working on other 2015 recruits and help build his class for whatever school he eventually chooses.

It’s also worth noting that “early” is a fairly loose term at this point, and Gibson has yet to offer any further specifics regarding what kind of timeline he implied with that tweet.

If the Sooners were to pull in an early commitment from Gibson however, it would be quite the coup in pulling a five-star talent out of the state of Florida.

– UPDATE (10:55 pm): Talked to Torrance’s coach and he clarified that “early, means after officials”. Not early as in after these unofficial visits. I think the original plan was to take it to signing day.

Sooner Ray

Hope we do start getting some Arkansas kids, they’ve been tapping the Tulsa area for years and having some success. The Arkansas state should work for the kids in the same way Texas does in that they aren’t far from home. This Cali pipeline looks strong, hope we can use it to branch out to other Cali areas as well as other western states.

Super K

We want to start looking for under the radar kids from Arkansas to start featuring on our website

nlkoehn

Does anybody know of any Frank Shannon rumors?

John

What rumors?

nlkoehn

They won’t say. This is the 2nd post in a few weeks on Scoop.

Eric Hoffpauir

Yeah, but what rumors have you heard? Or are you just trying to start some speculation?

jotay21

Something is up with Frank. His twitter feed is showing no tweets anymore.

Jordan Esco

His account is protected or are you referring to something else?

SoonerPhins

Any links to provide?

Steve Cooke

It’s called going on a subscription drive. They are probably just trying get their paying fan base up.

Allen Kenney

Rumors are actually coming from posters on SS, not the mods. Very odd.

Steven White

I have looked every where and cannot find any rumors on Frank Shannon. I am a member of the Sooner Scoop site and frequent other free sites and no where do I see a rumor. Want to elaborate?

Jordan Esco

I remember some rumors of an injury a while back, but that was debunked. Not aware of anything since then and can’t seem to find anything elsewhere?

dahldennsull

From the sooner scoop chat last night:

“Frank Shannon talk is all rumors (I wasn’t sure what the rumors were) and Josh won’t comment on it. Josh was told he was a practice but wasn’t there first hand to see.”

Not sure if that sounds injury, transfer, or disciplinary related, but apparently some were worried he wouldn’t be at practice.

Doobie74OU

Totally agree Sooner Ray! Continuing that Cali Connection and Expanding it! Getting Frison last year from Utah! recent History in Nevada! As OUr recruiting base continues to expand our level of talent will and Continues to just push through the roof!

Fort Smith Okie

The football culture in Arkansas is Razorbacks and SEC with a good dose of OU hate. The last kid I can think of from over here who had Arkansas and SEC offers that didn’t end up at Arkansas or an SEC school, was a DT out of Junction City, Ark, but he was a move-in from Texas. Fortunately Agim isn’t an Arkansas native, he’s a move-in from the Dallas area, and apparently has told folks he’s been a Sooner fan since the first grade.

Zack

Hopefully kish can close the deal on a couple of the linebackers. It seems like the biggest question mark in the class. I have faith they will get the receivers they want and corners. And the trenches are strong and look promising for a couple more to commit.

Doobie74OU

Yeah if this Defense they are building for the next several years gets a few more Talented, Athletic, and Strong LB to play behind the D-Line they are developing. WOW! Will be Amazing to watch!

Zack

Don’t get me wrong our linebackers are good and young but we need to establish depth there. But if the base is going to be 3-3-5 then I guess depth isn’t that big of an issue.

John

Thanks for the update. Closing the deal on Kelly will be a big plus for Kish. I think it’s pretty much agreed he can coach up a LB but now he needs to step up and recruit a top-draw prospect like Kelly.

hOUligan

Was reading about Kelly a few days ago. Huge that OU is his 1st offer. Last season was Kish’s first to get his LB group on the field and they played great for being so young. He just needs to show he can coach ’em and kids will want to play for him.

Indy_sooner

I don’t think we were the first. Rivals shows Arkie as having offered back in Jan. He does consider us his “dream” offer though…

Jordan Esco

I think you got the two kids flip-flopped, fwiw.

Indy_sooner

Yea. That is my bad. Both are studs and am glad we are going after them early. Agim’s the one that tweeted something about us being his dream school

Jordan Esco

No sweat, brotha

Amayetli

Anyone else see this yet?

I thought about it & I will be committing early.— Torrance Gibson (@quick_tg6) March 25, 2014

Jordan Esco

Yup, just updated the post w/ it.

Also saw that Cam Newton just so happened to be on campus today for Gibson’s visit. How convenient (and also an NCAA violation).

Sooner Ray

Jordan, is that a violation even on an unofficial visit or is it just a clever underhanded stunt? I’m not familiar with all the rules but I find it hard to believe they would be so stupid. I hope they do get into some trouble.

Jordan Esco

It’s a violation, albeit a minor one. Very little if anything would likely ever come of it, other than probably “Don’t do that again.”

But it also just shows how some schools “get it” when it comes to recruiting and how, at least at times, OU can fall short in that arena (at least, IMO).

Sooner Ray

I agree with you about us seemingly falling short with some things, wish we would push the limits more especially on high profile recruits. We fell short having him in on spring break and not having the HC in town but I was expecting good things on an official next year, Nothing is in stone, remember these are Juniors in HS we’re talking about.

Gary Robbins

I agree with both you and Jordan. An early Torrance Gibson OU commit would be a coup de foudre type event( love at first sight). Jarret Stidham seems to have a very positive effect on Tx. Tech recruiting up to this point.But then again early commit as in spring, summer or fall? Toby Weathersby (ot) was a 100% OU lean by all the forecasters. He goes down to Texas for one visit and boom he commits. Our HC Stoops was in San Diego so we should have brought in Sam Bradford – by accident! Oh well.

soonermusic

I actually like it when OU doesn’t do the sleazy things that others try to get away with. I think it reflects well on the program and doesn’t hurt us in the long run.

Gary Robbins

I read under the “Bucknuts” – Ohio State comments section that he loved his Auburn visit and got to meet his idol (Cam Newton). My question is I thought I read somewhere that his coach ( who is also an attorney) was on the visits with him. Is Auburn and his coach/attorney that oblivious to the rules or is it all hearsay? Or does it really make any difference?

Also noticed under the “Bucknuts” (ohio State) comments section where they said he loved Auburn and got to speak to his idol ( Cam Newton) fwiw !!!

Fort Smith Okie

Getting kids out of Arkansas is extremely difficult. Kids over here are almost indoctrinated as Hog fans first and SEC fans second. The last Arkansas kid I can think of that we got was Mark Bradley, whose father of course played for OU. The last recruit I can think of over here that went out of state, and not to an SEC school, was a DT out of Junction City who went to Texas, but he was from Texas. Fortunately, Agim is originally from Texas (Dallas or Dallas area). I think last year was only his first or second season playing ball in Arkansas, because he was named newcomer of the year in his conference.